Bengt Richter wrote:
> Can a copyright notice forbid patenting of the expressed ideas, assuming
> it's the first public expression?
I doubt it.
> Just wondering what defense can be exercised through copyright. IANAL ;-)
A _copyright_ is a statement of ownership. The _license_ is where you can put
whatever terms you want.
> And if something is published today, is
> it prior art invalidating claims of a patent application filed tomorrow?
Yes, in theory, but you may have to challenge a patent in court post-hoc to
make that point.
--david
PS: I didn't mean to derail discussion off-topic. However, I think there's
value to settling these issues early, when there is no existing IP at stake.
If the three founders of the project agree on who owns the IP and what the
license is, as soon as they say so in public we can move on as far as I'm
concerned.